114 CNBC, February 19, 2009.
115 http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/02/07/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815.abstract.
116 Robert Draper, http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vbi08b00/pdf.
117 Bob Davis, “Rule Breaker,” Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2004, http://mercatus.org/media_clipping/rule-breaker-washington-tiny-think-tank-wields-big-stick-regulation.
118 http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/billionaires-role-in-hiring-decisions-at-florida-state-university-raises/1168680.
119 Ibid.
120 Ben Dimiero, “LEAKED EMAIL: Fox Boss Caught Slanting News Reporting,” Media Matters for America, December 9, 2010, http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/09/leaked-email-fox-boss-caught-slanting-news-repo/174090.
121 Ibid.
122 Media Matters Staff, “Luntz Births Another GOP Talking Point: It’s a ‘Government Option’ Not a ‘Public Option,’ ” MediaMatters for America, August 19, 2008, http://mediamatters.org/video/2009/08/19/luntz-births-another-gop-talking-point-its-a-go/153496.
123 Ben Dimiero, “FOXLEAKS: Fox Boss Ordered Staff to Cast Doubt on Climate Science,” Media Matters for America, December 15, 2010, http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317.
124 “Fox News’ Chris Wallace: Is Obama Even President?” Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2009, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/01/fox-news-chris.html.
125 “Why Obama Voted Against Roberts,” Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124390047073474499.html.
126 Lee Epstein, William Landis, and Richard Posner, “How Business Fares in the Supreme Court,” http://www.minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/EpsteinLanderPosner_MLR.pdf.
127 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greek-debt-crisis-how-goldman-sachs-helped-greece-to-mask-its-true-debt-a-676634.html.
128 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps5JL268ZQE.
129 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-goldmansachs-lawsuit-idUSTRE79R4JE20111028.
130 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544 162-20003526-503544.html.
131 Ross Douthat, “Conspiracies, Coups and Currencies,” New York Times, November 19, 2011.
132 http://dailyreckoning.com/goldman-bets-against-the-assets-it-sold-to-aig/.
133 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/trader-to-bbc-goldman-sachs-goldman-sachs-rules-the-world n_981658.html.
134 Interview with Rev. David Bullock, The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, January 5, 2012.
135 Ibid.
136 http://www.mackinac.org/14756.
137 ALEC website, http://www.alec.org/about-alec/.
138 Interview with Mark Pocan, Radio Show, August 5, 2011.
139 Common Cause, http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7Bfb3c17e2-cdd1-4df6-92be-bd4429893665%7D/MONEYPOWERANDALEC.pdf.
140 ThinkProgress, http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/08/05/288979/revealed-bp-is-top-funder-of-alec-annual-meeting-in-oil-soaked-louisiana/.
141 Mark Pocan, “Inside ALEC,” http://progressive.org/inside_alec.html.
142 Mark Pocan interview.
143 Ibid.
144 Common Cause, http://www.commonblog.com/2012/01/31/alec-exposed-for-24-hours/.
145 ALEC website, http://www.alec.org/about-alec/history/.
146 Mark Pocan radio interview.
147 Common Cause, http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7Bfb3c17e2-cdd1-4df6-92be-bd4429893665%7D/MONEYPOWERANDALEC.pdf.
148 Common Cause, http://www.commonblog.com/2011/08/03/have-you-met-alec-in-minnesota/.
149 The Uptake, http://www.theuptake.org/2012/02/11/mn-governor-vetos-alec-template-bills/.
150 Heritage Foundation, December 18, 2008, http://blog.heritage.org/2008/12/18/conservative-leader-paul-weyrich-dies-first-to-lead-heritage/.
151 Paul Weyrich, Youtube: RWW blog, August 1980, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN7IB-d7Hfw&feature=player_embedded.
152 PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fixers/reports/primer.html.
153 Roll Call, http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_75/-202990-1.html.
154 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/cash-hoarding-companies-spend-lend-economy n_1666424.html.
155 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323894704578115180435402750.html.
156 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304724404577297610717362138.html.
157 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxhyUAWPmGw.
158 New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/the-way-greeks-live-now.html?_r=1.
159 http://qz.com/28535/proof-that-austerity-measures-are-making-european-economies-worse-not-better/.
160 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/profiting-from-pain-europe-s-crisis-is-germany-s-blessing-a-808248.html.
161 Camilla Louise Lyngsby, “George Soros Blasts Germany for Its Role in Europe Crisis,” CNBC, March 1, 2013, http://www.cnbc.com/id/100512946.
162 Ibid.
163 Interview with Richard Wolff, The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, September 27, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5kS9btTY-Q.
164 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20322746.
165 James Kirkup, The Telegraph, Nov. 25, 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8917077/Prepare-for-riots-in-euro-collapse-Foreign-Office-warns.html.
166 “Arthur Young’s Travels in France During 1787, 1788, 1789,” http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Young/yngTF.html.
167 Gordon Chang, “China’s Property Sector, Just Before The Crash,” Forbes, March 3, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2013/03/03/chinas-property-sector-just-before-the-crash/.
168 http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/a-conversation-with-jeremy-rifkin-on-the-third-industrial-revolution.
169 James Madison, from “Political Observations,” April 20, 1795, in Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, Volume IV (Forgotten Books, 2012), 491.
170 Barbara Starr, “Pentagon Reports Record Number of Suicides,” CNN, January 16, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/15/us/military-suicides.
171 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HTkEBIoxBA&feature=player_embedded.
172 http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/debt-in-america-details.html.
173 Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002 Annual Report, p. 15, http://www.berk shirehathaway.com/2002ar/2002ar.pdf.
174 Thomas Kostigan, “The $700 Trillion Elephant,” MarketWatch, March 6, 2009, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-700-trillion-elephant-room theres?dist=TNMostRead.
175 http://gawker.com/the-next-housing-bubble-is-about-to-pop-all-over-you-510108728.
176 Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Spencer Roane, 1819, Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/137.html.
177 Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Charles Jarvis, September 28, 1820, http://www.yamaguchy.com/library/jefferson/jarvis.html.
178 http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/.
179 http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/aboutFund/aboutPermFund.cfm.
180 http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-4.
181 http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/02/who-makes-the-most-from-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public-land.php.
182 http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20100518/research-shows-federal-oil-leasing-and-royalty-income-raw-deal-taxpayers.
183 http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-4.
184 http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/29/news/economy/stimulus_analysis/index.htm.
185 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhYJS80MgYA.
186 http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/labor/news/2009/03/11/5814/the-employee-free-choice-act-101/.
187 http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/here-is-the-full-inequality-speech-and-slideshow-that-was-too-hot-for-ted/257323/.
188 http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/11/news/economy/wealth-net-worth/index.html.
189 http://www.senternovem.nl/mmfiles/The%20100.000%20Roofs%20Programme_tcm
24-117023.pdf.
190 http://www.folkecenter.dk/en/articles/EUROSUN2000-speech-PM.htm.
191 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany.
192 Resources & Stats, Nuclear Energy Institute, http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/usnuclearpowerplants/.
193 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany.
194 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Renewable_Energy_Sources_Act.
195 Mark Landler, “Germany Debates Subsidies for Solar Industry,” New York Times, May 16, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/business/worldbusiness/16solar.html.
196 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-energy-china25-2010mar25,0,356464.story.
197 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/business/energy-environment/14oil.html.
198 Wallace S. Broecker, “CO2 Arithmetic,” Science 315 (2007): 1371, and comments as Science 316 (2007): 829; and Oliver Morton, “Is This What It Takes to Save the World?” Nature 447 (2007): 132.
199 http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/aeo/electricity_generation.html.
200 http://solar.gwu.edu/index_files/Resources_files/epstein_full cost of coal.pdf.
201 http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/1/23/242786/Volkswagen-Chattanooga-Powers-Up.aspx.
202 http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/Wind_Power_Case_Studies_files/Alta Wind Energy Center.pdf
203 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/wind-power/index.html.
204 Kevin Zeese, “Cooperative: The Co-op Alternative to Corporate Capitalism,” It’s Our Economy, August 28, 2011, http://itsoureconomy.us/2011/08/cooperatives-the-co-op-alternative-to-corporate-capitalism/.
ABOUT TWELVE
TWELVE was established in August 2005 with the objective of publishing no more than twelve books each year. We strive to publish the singular book, by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority. Works that explain our culture; that illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain. We seek to establish communities of conversation surrounding our books. Talented authors deserve attention not only from publishers, but from readers as well. To sell the book is only the beginning of our mission. To build avid audiences of readers who are enriched by these works—that is our ultimate purpose.
For more information about forthcoming TWELVE books, please go to www.twelvebooks.com.
* Tea Party national press release, November 4, 2010: “Tea Party Patriots wishes to extend a special thank you to Rick Santelli for his rant on February 19, 2009, which started this entire movement. Without Rick’s rant, this movement would never have started. Many others will try to take credit but don’t be fooled. He was the spark that began this fire.”
* In a later chapter, we’ll examine a lot of lessons we can learn from Germany after the crash.
* Madison arrived at this conclusion by giving the following explanation from his book Political Observations: “War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both.”
* The most conspicuous consequence of the deforestation of Italy during the early years of Caesar’s rule was the “currency crisis,” in which the cost of refining the silver used in Roman coins doubled—because the cost of the wood used to fire the smelters more than doubled. Some historians argue that this moment—when Rome could no longer supply its own energy needs—was the first signal of the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Interestingly, 1970 is widely accepted as the “peak oil” year for the United States, when our domestic oil supplies began an irreversible slide and our imports began to shoot up from 10 to 20 percent into the 50 to 60 percent range, where they are today. Then president Richard Nixon called for an alternative-energy strategy to get us off oil, and President Jimmy Carter actually put one in place in 1978, but Ronald Reagan rolled it back in 1981, leading directly to a dramatic increase in our imports of foreign oil.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: Canvas Moon America
Who Stole the Back of the Moon?
The Crash
Just One of Us Ducks
Death by Bankster
Death by Globalism
The Task
PART 1: THE ECONOMIC ROYALISTS AND THE CORPORATIST CONSPIRACY
CHAPTER 1: A Rendezvous with Destiny
The Great Forgetting
The Economic Royalists
A Crash Starts a Nation
The Next Cycle: The Civil War
FDR Wages War on the Royalists
The Road to War: Yesterday and Today
War
CHAPTER 2: A Corporate Call to Arms
The Sixties
The Powell Memo
On Campus
The GOP TV Memo and Roger Ailes
The Courts and the Capitol
CHAPTER 3: The Crisis Capitalists
Killing Keynes
The Mont Pelerin Society
Shock Troopers
A Global Shift
The “Crisis” Comes to America
PART 2: WHY WE CRASHED
CHAPTER 4: A Middle-Class Primer
The Elusive Middle Class
Step One: Progressive Taxation
Step Two: A Social Safety Net
Step Three: Protections for Working People
Step Four: Rules in the Marketplace
Monopoly Endgame
CHAPTER 5: Reagan Kidnapped the Jetsons
Tax Cuts of Mass Destruction
More Unequal than Rome
The “Debt” Crisis
Shooting Santa
Republican President Clinton
A Giant Sucking Sound
CHAPTER 6: “Madness”
The Evolution of Madness
Monopolies Return
Global Psychopaths
Bankster Psychopaths
Financialization
The 1920s All Over Again
Even Worse than Before
PART 3: “OPPRESSION, REBELLION, REFORMATION”
CHAPTER 7: A Revolution Denied
Jefferson’s Cycle of Revolutions
A History of Revolution
The Suicide Pact
CHAPTER 8: The Royalists Strike Back
A Tea Party Reimagined
Meet the Kochs
The Rise of the Kochtopus
Fox News Gets in the Game
Thwarted
CHAPTER 9: Betrayal on the High Court
Roberts Takes the Case
The Road to Personhood
Delphin Delmas v. Corporate Personhood
CHAPTER 10: Masters of the Universe
First, Greece
It Spreads
Little Dictators
The ALEC Shadow Government
Democracy Defamed
Cancer Stage
PART 4: THE GREAT CRASH
CHAPTER 11: This Is the End
Germany Finally Wins World War II
Germany Goes Too Far
The Divergence and War
The China Syndrome
The Oil Shock
Military Misadventure
$1,200,000,000,000,000
PART 5: OUT OF THE ASHES
CHAPTER 12: Organized People v. Organized Money
Move to Amend
Take On the Court
The Court Takes the Power
Depose the Kings!
CHAPTER 13: Repair the Fundamentals
Medicare Part E
Reclaim the Commons
Cure Wall Street’s Madness
Reinvest
Card Check
Printing Money
Jubilee
No Billionaires!
CHAPTER 14: Green Revolution
Decentralization
The Tipping Point
Stripping Oil of Its Strategic Value
Tipping Point Reached
CHAPTER 15: Democratize the Economy
The Silent Revolution
The Dragon’s Mountain
The Mercedes and the Labor Union
The Seeds
CHAPTER 16: Epilogue—A Letter to My Great-Grandchildren
About the Author
Also by Thom Hartmann
Notes
About Twelve
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This publication is intended to provide helpful and informative material regarding the subject matter covered. However, it is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, financial, or other professional advice. Laws and practices often vary from state to state and if legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be sought. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred from the use or application of the contents of this book.
Copyright © 2013 by Thom Hartmann
Cover design by Catherine Casalino
Cover photography by Ryann Cooley
Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.